The many components of film can make or break a production depending on how it is done. This week the component I’ve had to work on and really think about is sound. While filming my production, I had to take into consideration the different kinds of sounds and how I would capture those sounds. The types of sounds can be broadened into the general categories of diegetic and nondiegetic sounds. Diegetic sounds are sounds that occur naturally during the filming process that the characters can hear as well, such as ambient sounds and dialogue, whereas nondiegetic sounds are sounds that occur within the film that the characters can not hear but the audience can, such as narration and sound effects.
Diegetic sounds are simple to create as long as you have the right equipment. To record sounds, there are three different types of microphones: lavalier, shotgun, and handheld. For the type of film I’m creating, a handheld microphone will not be a part of my production since those are better for “man on the street” types of productions such as reporting and interviews. A shotgun microphone could have been nice to have used but I did not have access to one nor would I have been able to handle using both my phone, the recording device, and holding the microphone all at the same time. The microphone that I used when recording with my cast was the lavalier microphones, to which I fortunately did have access to due to having it handy in my school’s television production classroom. Those microphones were tricky to use since it could have hit against someone’s hair or clothing and created static noises but lucky enough I figured out how to set it up and was able to get the best possible results. At the moment I believe all of my diegetic sounds are going to be only where the characters are speaking to one another, but as I get further along in my editing process, I will see if other parts of my production are using diegetic sounds too.
Not only am I using diegetic sounds in production, but as I get into my editing process, nondiegetic sounds are becoming relevant. These sounds can be naturally created, or just made through resources, but are added during post-production. Some of the sounds in my production that fall under this category include the background music, the production company logo special effects sounds, and the clock ticking noise. The clock ticking noise I’m using for my production is a perfect example of a natural nondiegetic sound because while I did record the footage of a clock, I did not use all the sound that was recorded during the filming process. Instead, at a later point of time I found a working non digital watch, and recorded the noise it made and matched it up. For most of the production, you can hear this background music that I created specifically for this production by using the app “Garageband”. I wanted to dip my toes in trying to make something myself and although I don’t have much knowledge of making music, I figured that since I had access to this app, it was simple enough for me to try to make it on my own and I do really like what I have created, even if the app I used is kind of easy to laugh at (I know I find it funny).
Besides what I have done with my production, when learning about nondiegetic sounds, we learned about foley artists and the funny side of making a film with these sounds. What I love about foley artists is that they can make such realistic sounds, that may not be the prettiest sounds, but the way that they do it could look like one of the funniest things. Results versus reality is kind of funny to think about because in a production it could be something like a brutal bone breaking but in reality, it’s just someone breaking uncooked pasta or a piece of celery. I know there is a lot more that goes into making these sounds perfect for a production, but I would love to do this for fun or just sit in and watch these artists because it really seems like a good time for such serious work that could make or break a film.
Another thing I found funny when it came to productions using nondiegetic sounds, is the fact that in a dance scene, the set is completely silent. As an audience member, I would have never imagined that people could dance without music and make it believable but I give props to those people who push through and make it look really well done. It does make sense that they would have to film without music though, since if there is dialogue, it would be impossible to hear their words over the sounds, especially if people are making noise while dancing to the music.
While I may not be using some of this information for my current production, having this information about the way it works is important for me to know since I may need it for a future production. I would have never guessed that dance scenes are filmed in silence and now I know that if in a future production I needed to film a dance scene, that I would need to be just a little awkward while filming and get the right resources and train my talent to dance without the music while still making it look good. Overall my use of diegetic sounds may be small but is still very important to have it done correctly and I believe that my use of a lavalier microphone helped significantly in making sure my talent is being heard while filming.
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